China Box Office: ‘Furious 7’ Becomes Highest-Grossing Movie Ever

Furious 7 is now China’s most successful movie ever, breaching the key 2 billion threshold in the local yuan currency. With a May holiday coming up, the story of Furious’ remarkable performance is probably not over yet.

The film has grossed an astonishing $325.8 million in 15 days, according to studio data, and has passed the Transformers: Age of Extinction box office of $319 million.

James Wan‘s movie had 398,897 screenings and 11.517 million admissions, according to data from research group Entgroup, China is now the biggest box-office territory in the world for Furious 7. Entgroup put the cume at $324 million.

State movie company China Film Group has a stake in Furious 7, believed to be around 10 percent, which is a big boost for distribution.

The presence of Vin Diesel, Jason Statham and Michelle Rodriguez in Beijing to promote the movie also helped, as did Diesel’s hints that the next installment might be shot in China.

Taiwanese singer and actor Alec Su‘s directorial debut The Left Ear took $31.49 million in its opening three days and notched up 121,138 screenings and 5.78 million admissions.

The movie is an adaptation of Chinese author Rao Xueman‘s 2006 romance novel of the same name, which tells the story of a deaf girl who becomes infatuated with one of her fellow students. The Left Ear stars Oho Ou, Yangyang and Chen Duling.

Ever Since We Love, which has been called “China’s most sexual film,” added $10.24 million for a cume of $21.91 million after 10 days, with 133,087 screenings and 1.88 million admissions.

The movie is directed by Li Yu and written by well-known Chinese novelist Zhang Haipeng, also known by the pen name Feng Tang. It tells of medical student Han Geng‘s romantic woes, including his relationship with an older woman played by Fan Bingbing.

DreamWorks Animation’s Home was in fourth place with an opening weekend of $8.02 million, and this title should do well over the May holiday weekend with schools closed.

Easternlight’s Wolf Warriors, directed by and starring martial artist Wu Jing, was in fifth place, adding another $4.92 million for a gross of $84 million after 25 days.

The Arnold Schwarzegger-starrer Sabotage took $2.5 million in its opening weekend, with 38,219 screenings and 502,079 admissions, while the Chinese drama Silent Separation took $2.11 million in advance sales.

Johnny Depp starrer Mortdecai added another $1.42 million for a cume of $3.53 million, as Matthew Vaughn‘s comic book adaptation Kingsman: The Secret Service added another $670,000 for a total gross of $77.96 million.

Annie Yi‘s romance The Queens rounded out the top 10, adding $560,000 for a cume of $2.46 million.

Looking ahead, Avengers: Age of Ultron opens on May 12, and Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo have been in China to promote the movie, so Hollywood’s take could be in line for a further boost next month.

Twitter: @cliffordcoonan